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Songs about King Arthur

16 Aug 04 - 07:53 AM (#1248574)
Subject: King Aurthur
From: *Laura*

Does anyone know if there are any songs about King Aurthur? And where I might find them? I've just re-read my very good version of the book, and am interested in the idea of King Aurthur and the Westcountry, and wonder if there are any songs that have the same sort of ideas.

xLx


16 Aug 04 - 07:58 AM (#1248575)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: pavane

Spell it ARTHUR for more results!


16 Aug 04 - 07:59 AM (#1248577)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: *Laura*

Yeah i noticed that after I did it - it's one of those words I can never spell. Like necessary (is that right)
oopsy!

xLx


16 Aug 04 - 08:01 AM (#1248578)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

there - changed


16 Aug 04 - 08:03 AM (#1248579)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

how do I change the title of the thread? properly I mean


16 Aug 04 - 08:04 AM (#1248580)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: pavane

The only one I can find is not related to Arthur himself, but just 'In good King Arthur's time', about the three thieving rogues (Miller and the Weaver and the little Tailor)


16 Aug 04 - 08:26 AM (#1248591)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: Ross

How about the musical - Camelot

Richard Harris singing about a cake and never having the recipe again

Oh Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!! Jim Webb song I think

There used to be a brilliant kids cartoon on UK tele with quite a catchy theme tune

I'm giggling now, so I'll have to go


16 Aug 04 - 09:34 AM (#1248618)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: Turlough

Laura,

well, technically it's not really about Arthur, but Nick Keir wrote a song called "Avalon", it's somewhere in the DT. And there's Jake Walton's "Tristan's Song", which also isn't actually about Arthur himself... There are probably many more songs, but these are the only two that I can think of right now...

T.

P.S. What "very good version of the book" have you read?


16 Aug 04 - 10:35 AM (#1248644)
Subject: RE: King Aurthur
From: cloudstreet

We sing the theme song from a cartoon called, "Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table". A google search for toontracker should take you to it. You can't download the song but it plays when you load the right page. Good fun.

John.


16 Aug 04 - 11:21 AM (#1248683)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Jeri

I've written one. (Or mostly written one. I'm still not satisfied with parts of it.) You're probably looking for existing songs though. I have a vague memory of a song by Crosby Stills & Nash about Guinnevere, but one would think there were be some trad-sounding songs as well. One reason I wanted to write a song was the fact that there don't seem to be very many songs about King Arthur or Camelot. Another reason was I really wanted to explore the question of (after Arthur's departure to Avalon) "and THEN what happened?"

2nd verse:
And his knights rode where the four winds blew,
No reason here to stay.
He dreamed a dream and they believed,
But the dream is buried in the clay.
Remembered, yes, by those who lack,
The strength that living it would take,
And Excalibur's, in the cold, cold hands,
Of the Lady of the Lake.

Regarding how to change the thread title, sometimes Admin people see requests in a thread, if they happen to be reading the thread. Other times, you can post a message in the Help Forum - the link's in the banner at the top of each page.


16 Aug 04 - 11:54 AM (#1248701)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Turlough

John,

I heard you sing that song at Alcester. Very funny!

T.


16 Aug 04 - 05:22 PM (#1248888)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

Monty Python have a song about 'The Nights of the Round Table' - thats a good one!


16 Aug 04 - 05:22 PM (#1248890)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

I mean knights! honestly - theres something wrong with my keyboard! not me! hehe


16 Aug 04 - 05:26 PM (#1248896)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Georgiansilver

Knights in white satin...LOL


16 Aug 04 - 05:29 PM (#1248900)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Georgiansilver

To be serious...if you feed "excalibur" into the lyrics and knowledge search you will come up with something on the thread. Best wishes.


16 Aug 04 - 06:26 PM (#1248940)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: GUEST,ClaireBear

See the "Hunting Song" thread (to which I just posted) for an obscure early Pentangle lyric that's Arthurian in story line, although it doean't mention him by name.


16 Aug 04 - 07:51 PM (#1248988)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Susan of DT

There are a few Child ballads with Arthurian overtones, all in the DT:
   Child #29 The Boy and the Mantle
   Child #30 The Marriage of Sir Gawaine
   Child #18 Sir Lionel/Old Bangum


16 Aug 04 - 08:05 PM (#1248999)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Hawker

Pete Coe wrote a song called The Wizard Of Aldeley which has a reference to King Arthur in it. I think it is in the DT
Cheers Lucy


17 Aug 04 - 08:27 AM (#1249302)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: GUEST,Mr Sooze

Check out the 3 novels by Bernard Cornwall- "Ememy of God"; The Winter King" & "Excaliber".... excellent reading !


17 Aug 04 - 12:21 PM (#1249466)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: FIDDLE-4

IF YOU LOOK UP A MAN CALLED ARNOLD BAX
AN ENGLISH CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSER.
VERY INTO CELTIC MUSIC AND ARTHURIAN
LEDGEND HE WROTE A THING CALLED TINTAGLE
OR SOME SPELLING LIKE THAT ,,YOU WILL MAYBE
FIND SOME FOLK SONGS CONNECTED TO HIS WORK..


17 Aug 04 - 04:46 PM (#1249692)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: GUEST

Camelot. Tis a silly place


17 Aug 04 - 05:08 PM (#1249709)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

A blessing! A blessing from the lord!

God be Praised!


17 Aug 04 - 05:24 PM (#1249729)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Turlough

Yes, of course! Here's a true Arthurian song (although, again, it's not about Arthur himself).


17 Aug 04 - 05:34 PM (#1249741)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: The Walrus

I seem to recall a French song:

"Chevaliers de la Table Ronde" (
apologies to any Francophones out there, for the appalling spelling).

W


17 Aug 04 - 05:42 PM (#1249746)
Subject: Lyr Add: ARTHUR (Rick Wakeman)
From: Rasener

How about this one


Rick Wakeman
ยป Arthur

WHOSO PULLETH OUT THIS
SWORD FROM THIS STONE
AND ANVIL, IS THE TRUE-
BORN KING OF ALL BRITAIN
Upon a New Year's day
A host of knights did pray
That from the anvil one could draw the sword.
As each knight took his turn
They found the anvil, held it firm;
None worthy of a future King and Lord.
Sir Kay the bravest knight
Appeared to try his might
He dreamed of being King, as all the rest
To Arthur Sir Kay called to search
And bring for him a sword
In earnest Arthur set about his quest.
A churchyard in the wood
The sword and anvil stood
And Arthur drew the sword out of the stone
The anvil now defeated
His quest for the sword completed
A sword that was to place him on the throne
A sword that was to place him on the throne.
Sir Hector and Sir Kay saw the sword
And knelt to pray
Then gently took it from young Arthur's hand
They marvelled at his quest
Proclaiming to the rest
Arthur is the King of all this land
Arthur the King of all this land.


17 Aug 04 - 05:46 PM (#1249753)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Turlough

Oh yes! That's a nice one... What was the chorus again? "Goutons voir, oui oui oui, goutons voir, non non non, goutons voir, si le vin est bon..."


17 Aug 04 - 07:19 PM (#1249858)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: kendall

How about Dave Mallett's song, "Arthur"?
Jeri that gives me goose flesh! Finish it.


17 Aug 04 - 07:44 PM (#1249870)
Subject: ADD: MORTE D'ARTHUR (Anne Lister)
From: Barbara

^^MORTE D'ARTHUR
(Anne Lister copyright 1995)

After the battle the daylight faded
Darkness fell, not a word was spoken
I stood by the king awhile and waited
The sword in his hand, like his heart, was broken
And what did he say but to throw the sword away
Throw it in the water that ever runs deep
What did he say but to throw the sword away
And then, he said, then he could sleep.

By the lakeside the seabirds were calling
I stood by the water with the sword in my hand
And all around me the shadows were falling
Darkness fell on all the green land
And what could I do but to walk back to the king
The broken sword hanging more heavy than gold
But how could I throw the sword into the lake?
May God forgive me the lies that I told.

Again he looked at me, his eyes as dark as pain
told me to take the sword to the lake
Told me to throw it till it flew home again
Told me to be sure and make no mistake
And down by the lakeside once more the seabirds called
The still waters lying as heavy as death
But I took the sword and threw it towards the sky
And as it fell I heard a soft sighing breath.

(BREAK)
In the lake rose an arm clothed in samite
In the lake rose an arm clothed in white
The hand caught the sword and waved it three times round
And darkness fell, darker than midnight.


When I reached the battlefield the king was no longer there
I ran to the cliff top and looked to the sea
A ship on the water with sails of silver
And four ladies standing their backs turned to me
And Arthur between them, sailing to Avalon
The coastline of Albion slowly turned black
And I walked homewards into the darkness
To wait for the day when the king will come back.

For there's no end now to my story
There's no end to the tale that I've told
The hand caught the sword and waved it three times round
The time will come when the dark will turn gold.


17 Aug 04 - 09:58 PM (#1249930)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: delphinium

There's Maddy Prior's CD "Arthur the King" - with a song cycle about the historical King Arthur. Lyrics and notes here.


18 Aug 04 - 12:54 AM (#1250018)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: Stilly River Sage

Laura,

There are a number of Arthurian cognates in legends of many regions of Europe and the Mediterranean, some as far away as India. Adonis, Attis, Osiris are three who get mention in scholarly works by James Frazer and Jessie Weston. The stories of Parzival/Parsival/Parsifal (also called Perceval, other variants are Percyvelle and Perlesvaus--this last one yeilds some good and very old information, I think) all contributed to or benefitted from the legend of Arthur and the Green Knight and the Holy Grail. You may recognize the name Parsifal because of Wagner's opera. These are all popular and related stories.

There is lots of old poetry that can be adapted to song, and probably songs transcribed as poetry in the many books referred to in Weston's wonderful little book From Ritual to Romance.

Arthur is a spinoff of a fertility legend, as are the others. The waters, the wasteland, the grail are all part of that. There is tons of stuff if you do some searches, but I wouldn't suggest Google for this, though you'll possibly scratch the surface. I suggest you go to a large library with books or large online fee (scholarly) databases where you can search on some of these terms. Find the OLD version of The Golden Bough (the one that is in many volumes). And find a copy of Jessie Weston's From Ritual to Romance. I just thumbed through it and found many exerpts from Medieval poetry. If you look up her book on The Green Knight I think you'll find even more. She quotes a lot of Mallory, though she also disagrees with many of his conclusions. I am in passing familiar with the Green Knight book, but haven't read it. I think it contains a lot of material in poetical form.

In addition to Frazer and Weston, James Campbell has written about the Arthurian legend and no doubt has an extensive bibliography. There are many scholars more modern than these three, some who have put slightly different readings on the primary materials in question. My work with this was in English Lit where I was working with early 20th century authors, so I wasn't pursing the more modern scholarship, but it's out there.

I hope this helps.

SRS


18 Aug 04 - 01:29 PM (#1250537)
Subject: RE: King Arthur
From: *Laura*

Cheers I will - thanks a lot.

xLx